Tigress of the Orient
by RockDiva
Summary: There was a story Tigress wasn't telling. She kept it behind her mighty prowess, unwilling to show it to anyone." It's been almost two months since Tigress bowed in honor towards Po and things are inexplicably getting rough again between them. Slight ship
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note** - I have only seen the movie once so forgive me and let me know politely if I've made any mistakes in spelling, names, minute details, etc. For example, at first I had been calling them the Fab 5 instead of Furious until I saw a commercial!

_Shipping Warning_: This story will probably be somewhat shippy of Po and Tigress (hey, don't go all "different species!" on me now :P). However, at the moment, I don't intend for it to be anymore than the possibility and/or looming tension between them. But, you never know where typing fingers will lead so I make no promises. I also will most likely make implications of Viper/Mantis!

_Disclaimer_: I will say this once for the entire story. **I do not claim ownership of Kung Fu Panda or the characters therein all of which are property of DreamWorks.** I only liked the movie so much that my imagination cried out for MORE! Any characters and/or story plots that I do add are my own creations based on age old ideas tossed around for centuries in storytelling only with new twists to fit the Kung Fu Panda world :) Therefore, do not come to me claiming I stole your idea seeing as every idea is recycled and there is never just one person at one time thinking of the possibilty of something. Now if I make it word for word with same original character names, I promise it's just a completely FREAKY coincidence! I am kidding, of course :D

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Chapter 1

There was a story Tigress wasn't telling. She kept it behind her mighty prowess, unwilling to show it to anyone. Po's arrival had irked her from the beginning, but more than that, it had brought back to life the memories she had tried for so long to bury. Although Po was now a regular member of the Furious 5 and the official dragon warrior, his presence still made it harder for her to re-bury those surfaced recollections.

At first, Tigress' change in demeanor was easily passed off as her frustration with Po and his inability at first to be the dragon warrior. However, she had bowed first in respect towards him and now held no ill will towards the giant panda. Thus, she now had nothing to mask her irritation when he sometimes was around while her bad memories the strongest.

It didn't take long for others of the group to question Tigress' random moments of hostility. Although she would always apologize, they feared what she was keeping secret. After all, they had seen the rage Tai-Lung had released after many years of keeping his emotions towards Master Shifu bottled in. And Master Shifu had hid his pain for years as well. Now that he was at peace, Shifu especially could sense the disturbance Tigress was hiding and wanted to see that it was set right.

Unfortunately, it had taken Po to bring Shifu peace, but it seemed to him Po was the thing bringing unrest to Tigress. He wished he could already be understanding of the dilemma as he knew Oogway would have been, but Shifu still had much more training to do before he could be as wise as Oogway had been in understanding deep matters of the psych.

"Should I summon Tigress and ask her outright or wait awhile longer and hope she comes to me?" Shifu debated as he stood beneath the sacred peach tree in the light of the rising dawn. He could feel there was a shift in the weather taking place somewhere and the valley would be filled with clouds and rain in the matter of a day or two. Shifu decided he should take the peaceful weather and silence now to meditate. He turned and was about to sit down when he heard a loud roar from inside the temple.

It was Tigress. Shifu immediately began a hurried trek back to the living quarters of his students. They were all gathered in the hall outside of the kitchen. "Tigress!" Viper cried out, bringing the tiger back to her senses.

She backed away from Po, who was cowered in fear, his hands in front of his face as a guard against her fury. "I...I...my apologies, Po," Tigress said with what seemed to be sincerity. She noticed their master watching her as well. "And my apologies to you, Master," she bowed, "for not honoring your lessons."

Po was the first to break the silence as he straightened himself back up, "Oh, it's, uh, it's okay, Tigress. I know I can get a little grumpy in the morning time, and, well, not as grumpy as my mom used to get. Let me tell you, she would..."

"That is enough, Po," Shifu spoke authoritatively. "You have offered Tigress your forgiveness and the score is settled. Let us begin our morning training."

The rest of the morning flowed smoothly enough. The group ran through there usual schedule of obstacle course training, meditation, breakfast, chores, meditation again and then lunch. Tigress remained as silent as she could throughout the morning and Po remained as far away as he could. Both of his students' disharmony with one another bothered Shifu even more. The unbalance could bring irreparable damage to the group's unity in battle.

Shifu summoned Viper to him during the group's usual after lunch quiet session. "You wish to speak to me, Master?" She slithered into the Jade Palace where Shifu awaited, his back turned to her.

"Do you know why I have summoned you?" Shifu took the opportunity to test his student.

There was a moment of silence before Viper answered. "You wish to speak to me of Tigress."

"Very good," Shifu turned around to face the snake.

"With respect, Master," Viper spoke slowly and cautiously, "It is not my place to speak of Tigress without her knowing."

"I don't ask for a betrayal of trust, Viper," Shifu said with a smile, glad of her answer. "I would like to know exactly what happened this morning and why it has caused disharmony between two of my pupils."

"Po was in the kitchen this morning, snacking away a nightmare I believe, when Tigress came in for the same reason and was taken off guard by him. Tigress did not want to show her weakness in front of Po and lashed out instead," Viper sighed, her fork tongue hissing as she did. "At least, this is the explanation she gave me. She said she is sorry for such reckless pride as it wasn't Po's fault he was there too."

"I see," Shifu paced a few steps back and forth as he thought. "What is unusual about this situation to you, Viper."

"Well, Master, Tigress has seemed more and more irritated by Po's being here by the day. And yet she claims nothing against him. I do not understand it. Today is the first time she took any real action towards him, letting her reflexes send her into an attack against him. Before you arrived, she had chased him out of the kitchen and up against the wall in the hallway."

Shifu's eyes widened at the detail of the encounter, but they quickly returned to normal. "Nevertheless, this is not what is unusual, as Tigress has claimed a reason for today's even odder behavior than of late. This is the only time she has lashed out, and it could be easily true she was taken off guard by Po's presence in a time of vulnerability," Shifu gave Tigress the benefit of the doubt in the matter, more perplexed now by something else. "Tigress is not perfect as are none of us."

"So you believe she really was lashing out because of the effects of a nightmare?" Viper asked in confusion. "But this does not explain her other annoyances."

"No, Viper," Shifu sighed, "it does not. But only Tigress can explain them to us. It is indeed a pressing matter that I must handle but there is still the unusualness unnamed from Po and Tigress' encounter with one another this morning," he looked at her very deliberately, waiting to see if she were wise enough to make the connection, but seeing this revelation was beyond her at the moment. "Tigress and Po both claimed to have had a nightmare."

"And both were trying to solve it in the same manner," Viper said with sudden inspiration.

"Which means we have two dilemmas upon our hand. Harmony versus disharmony, the two entities at war between Po and Tigress." Shifu brought his hands from behind his back where they had been folded together. He brought one to his chin in thought. "And the possibility their harmonious nightmares are born of the same deep warning inside of them. There are no accidents. I must speak with them both about their nightmares tonight. Until then, I must test their conscious harmony. Gather the others and meet me in the courtyard for one on one combat training followed immediately by double team combat training."

"Yes, master," Viper bowed her head and the top part of her body and then slithered off to alert the others.

"Their conscious disharmony may betray their subconscious harmony," Shifu sighed again as he blew out the candles surrounding him.

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**A/N (cont.) **

Please bare with me as I try to get into the swing of each character's voice. I usually try not to ever go too out of character and try to build based on what is given and then expand believably from there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note ****-** I'm at a total loss. What are the official names of those cool sticks they use to spar with? I've always loved those things but have never known the name! In here they are just called "sparring sticks" :P

For PoxTigress fans, have you all seen the McDonald's commercial for the toys? There are two new animations of them together and the last portion is so cute, a somewhat ripped variance from the movie, but cute nonetheless!

I want to say thanks for all of the reviews! I can't update much quicker than what I have because my laptop adapter died so I can only type it up in my spare time at work. So, I will try to update every Friday.

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Chapter 2

"You must use your opponent's weakness to defeat them more easily," Shifu spoke as Po and Tigress sparred. The others watched with bated breath, wondering if they would witness another inexplicable clash between the two. "This means you must study your opponent and learn his or her every move. Look for any tell-tale sign of vulnerability."

"That is easily done when my opponent is a flabby panda," Tigress said confidently. She sprung backwards with a loud "Yah!" and towards the sacred peach tree. With one swift move, Tigress kicked a peach directly off of its branch and towards Po.

Po's reflexes had become much faster and he caught the peach right before Tigress landed back in front of him. "Oh, a peach for me? I don't know what to say. Thanks, I guess." Po started to take a bite, but just as Tigress was about to throw a sneak punch, Po rolled the peach to his other hand and blocked it."

"But an even wiser lesson to learn is using your own weakness against your opponent," Shifu taught, glad that the dragon warrior had picked up on the technique. "This is why we must embrace our weaknesses until they become strengths."

"But hey, it's no really fair to Tigress is it?" Po asked, causing Tigress to eye him suspiciously. "After all, my weakness is pretty obvious. I mean, look at this fat belly," Po jiggled it with his hands as he pretended to stumble about. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I hit you? Oh no! I think I just took off some kid's head! Will the flabby horror never end!?" Viper, Monkey, Crane, and Mantis began laughing as Po made fun of his large stomach. Suddenly, even Tigress cracked a smile which then turned into a snicker. She tried to contain herself, but couldn't and began to laugh along with the others. As she did, Po used it to his advantage and spun on of his legs into hers, knocking her to the ground.

Everyone gasped and Tigress' laguhter immediately subsided. Po offered her his paw to help her back up. She accepted it and brushed herself off when she was standing up again. "I'm sorry," Po apologized awkwardly. "I wouldn't have, I mean, I, well that is, I assumed you would notice and then, well..."

"I understand, Po. You found a moment of vulnerability and I wasn't wise enough to use it against you," Tigress stopped him from blundering on and on. The smile was now completely gone from her eyes again. "I shouldn't have let my guard down."

"But I like when you let your guard down," Po said as he shrugged his shoulders a little. "I should have just stopped and let you laugh."

"And how would that help me with my training?" Tigress challenged.

"You know, it's okay to laugh, Tigress," Po defended his reasoning.

"But there's a time and place," Tigress counteracted. "Haven't you learned that yet? I must accept that you beat me in this spar because I lost focus."

"Bu we could have just left it at what Master Shifu said and..." Po started but was interrupted before he could finish. By this time, Po and Tigree were quite close, her eyes showing that she was on the brink of fury.

"Enough," Shifu held out both hands to separate them and Po and Tigress dropped their eyes toward the ground in obedience. "Neither of you can win this battle for your heads are too consumed by your hearts."

Everyone pondered Shifu's words as they looked at one another. Po snuck a glance at Tigress but immediately looked back down when she noticed his awkward stare. "So what, they're in love or something?" Mantis was the first to speak his thoughts aloud, as was usual with him. Everyone's eyes widened, fixed on Shifu for an answer and Po's and Tigress' heads both snapped up in a sudden panic at such a thought.

"What!?" Even Shifu's eyes widened at the prospect. "No, that is not what I meant."

"PHEW!" Po sighed loudly in relief. He noticed everyone's stares at him. "Nothing personal, Tigress, I mean you're, you know, you and all awesome and everything but..." Po fumbled for an explanation as everyone's eyes were still on him. "It's just, you know, becoming the dragon warrior has been enough change to last me at least two dynasties. I don't think I could handle love too."

"Believe me, you're not breaking my heart by saying that," Tigress responded with her familiar feline arrogance.

"Really now? And why wouldn't you want a piece of this?" Po joked as he jiggled his belly again. "I've got plenty to offer."

"I'll say," Tigress smirked.

Shifu cleared his throat authoritatively and the two when silent again. "I mean to finish this lesson before sundown," he said. "However, now I fear it will not resonate as it could have earlier."

"I'm sorry, Master," Tigress said very humbly.

"I'm sorry too, Master," Po echoed but as Shifu expected, didn't let it rest there. "But we can't help it if you went all mystical wisdom on us," the others snickered again except for Tigress who had a growl in the back of her throat. "Now, see, there she goes again."

"I'm not the one making a game out of everything and dishonoring my master," she snapped.

"I don't mean to dishonor Master Shifu," Po argued with her, something he would have never done just a month prior.

"You both are vexing my last nerve," Shifu said with an agitated grumble, his brow furrowed and one finger rested on his temple. "You need to see that you are both wrong in your approach! Po, you want to hide your insecurities with making a joke of everything and, Tigress, you want to hide yours behind a no nonsense exterior, which I can understand." There was silence for a few moments as Shifu hoped his words were getting through. "This clashing between you must stop. Po, there is a time for seriousness, as you well know yet have learned to fully grasp. And, Tigress, laughter is good for the heart and can be a faithful friend and tool to aid you. You both need to learn to bring balance and harmony in your lives, or there will never be harmony between the two of you."

"But, Master..." Tigress started but was not allowed to finish.

"I will prove my point," Shifu instructed. "You will be paired off into teams and we will work on some double team spars. Now is as good a time as any to see if you, Po and Tigress, can overcome your scuffle with one another to work together in a fight."

"What?" Po wasn't exactly sure he liked the idea of being paired with a more competent warrior who still seemed to think very little of his ability.

"Your hesitance is already proof enough of what may come," Shifu responded quickly to Po's protest, knowing Tigress also was protesting inwardly. "If you can over come this test, then hope is high. If you can not, we will have much work to do. Now let us begin."

"You better not make me look bad," Po joked to Tigress as they geared up to spar with the other two teams which consisted of Viper and Mantis and Monkey and Crane.

"I don't think that's possible," Tigress said with a little less edge in her voice than Po would have expected. "Now look out!" While they had been busy talking, Crane had already taken off for an air attack, holding monkey who in turn was holding a sparring stick. Crane had let go of him and Monkey had come sailing towards Po's gut with the stick at a rapid pace. Luckily, Tigress had seen it in time. "YAAAAAAH!" She jumped in front of Po and grabbed the stick with Monkey still on it and spun him back through the air towards Crane. "This is why joking is a serious matter," Tigress said as she turned and looked at Po with an annoyed look on her face.

"Wait? Is that like a play on words? Because I..." Po paused, ran past Tigress quickly and stopped Viper from attempting a mid-air coil attack on Tigress. He grabbed her tail and flung her like a rubber band directly towards where he anticipated Mantis would jump to dodge Viper in order to knock them both out. "Okay, where was I?"

"Don't think that you can just have it both, Po. You can't be this all-play panda and the dragon warrior while the rest of us work to...to...grr! Nevermind!" Tigress growled while dodging another attack from Crane.

"What are you talking about?" Po asked in confusion as he did a roundhouse kick on Mantis then turned and did the same to Monkey. "I can be serious! I think I've improved alot since defeating Tai Lung!"

"I know you have," Tigress didn't disagree with that statement. "But you're still far from what you could be!"

"It's only been a few months!" Po defended. "Can't you cut me some slack?"

"Not if my life and the life of my friends depends on it," Tigress roared back as she jumped into the air and landed on Viper's tail with a loud "Hi-yah!"

"Now wait just a second," Po wouldn't stand for that particular insult. "You think I wouldn't do anything to protect all of you, even you?"

"You have a bad way of proving it," Tigress accused harshly. "Because all I see is a flabby panda who just happens to have the gift of the dragon scroll and some training under his belt," there was no end to Tigress' sharp tongue and she didn't even realize how much her words had actually struck a blow to Po.

"Oh, yeah, well, I..." Po wracked his brain, unaccustomed to saying a mean word even when pressed, but this time he finally had been pushed past his own limit. "All I see is a scared pussy cat who just happens to have claws and sharp teeth to keep everyone else from seeing the truth."

Before anyone could even gasp, Tigress grabbed Po by his arm and sent him flying into the courtyard wall. As soon as she heard the loud thud, she realized what she had done. Her eyes nearly bulged from her head and she began breathing heavily in a panic. "Po! Po, I mean, dragon warrior, I mean, I'm so sorry, Po, I...Master Shifu, I didn't mean to and I..." Tigress couldn't take it.

She ran for the protection of her room as the others stared in disbelief. They then hurried to see if Po was alright. Meanwhile, Shifu stared at where Po lay before turning his gaze towards the direction Tigress had disappeared. As he did, he hung his head in despair.

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(A/N cont.) Okay this is a random request but does anyone know a place to generate or that lists kung fu yells better than yah or hi-yah? I don't want to bore everyone with my lack of imagination in that department. And yay! I'm about to go see the movie for the second time here in 10 minutes! Yay again! That will get my imagination going double time!


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note ****-** Okay, a shorter chapter this time around, mostly because it was that or have an insanely long chapter (because I have that much material up there in my head!), but it would mean an additional week to update. I updated a day early because I'll be busy with the holiday tomorrow. Happy 4th of July for those celebrating!

Another big thanks for the outstanding reviews I recieved for chapter 2!! It definitely keeps me motivated :)**

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**Chapter 3**

"I'm sorry," Po mumbled incoherently as he still lay there only half concious. He was slowly but surely coming back around as the others waited. They knew it was best not to move the panda from his immobile position too quickly.

"Poor Po," Mantis felt sorry for his friend. No amount of acupuncture would help this time. "He couldn't have meant what he said."

"Of course he didn't mean it," Viper corrected the bug's thinking. "The dragon warrior can not be filled with true spitefulness."

"That he can not," Shifu nodded. "However, we all have our moments when we are provoked beyond reason and logical thinking."

"What about Tigress?" Monkey added another thought to the conversation.

"If Po here feels bad for what happened, Tigress probably feels a hundred times worse," Crane finished aloud what he knew everyone else must be thinking.

"Master," Viper approached Shifu slowly, "may I go to Tigress? Or should I wait until she comes first?"

Shifu thought silently for a few moments. He looked at Po and then at Viper. "Go. But don't speak of what is said between you," he instructed reluctantly.

Viper bowed her head slightly before slithering off in the direction Tigress had gone. Her strong, keen senses led her until she was outside of Tigress' room. The door was slightly ajar and to Viper's astonishment, she could see Tigress placing her belongings into a small bag made from a bandana. "I can't stay, Viper," Tigress was aware of her friend's presence.

"What do you mean you can't stay!?" Viper squeezed into the room quickly. "Where would you go?"

"I don't know," Tigress answered with a sigh. "But I do know I have failed Master Shifu for the last time."

"Tigress, please, what are you talking about?" Viper couldn't understand her words. Why would she think that she had failed Shifu? "You've never failed any of us."

"No disrespect but you're wrong," Tigress said coldly as she continued to pack. She did not make eye contact with Viper as the snake stared at her for more information than she felt Tigress was giving. Tigress knew Viper wanted a better explanation, but she didn't know how to explain and that was part of her problem. "I don't know what else to say, Viper. I've failed Shifu from the moment I arrived."

"When you were a cub?" Viper hissed questioningly. Viper placed her tail on Tigress' paw to stop her from what she was doing. "You were here many years before I was called to train under Shifu. What is it that you aren't telling? Please, you can tell me. I am your confidant."

Tigress pulled away and turned her back on Viper. "There's nothing to tell except for I've failed my master. Isn't that enough?"

"No it isn't," Viper answered without hesitation, causing Tigress to drop her head a little as she listened to what had to be said. "I have failed Master Shifu many times as have we all, sister. But we can't run from our failures because that is the worst failure of all. The others are only stepping stones on the way to our destiny." Viper turned and smiled at Tigress as she passed and then left her alone to make her decision.

"Failure is my destiny," Tigress spoke with a bitterness much like she had when Po had first arrived. She returned to her sack, refusing to cry as she had always done.

Many hours passed as Po eventually returned to a healthy state. Thankfully, the impact of the blow was not enough to cause as much damage as his slip up had done to his own conscience. This guilt resonated through the rest of his personality making it an awkward time for everyone else as they sat together in the dining room. Only Shifu and Tigress were not with them, which only caused the atmosphere to seem even more unnerving.

"Hey, Po, maybe you have a story or something you could tell us," Crane hated awkward situations and wanted to break the silence somehow. "Or, you know, maybe we could have an early dinner."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Viper encouraged Crane's efforts to make Po feel better.

"Only energy juice for me tonight, guys," Po said with a sigh. "It's time I actually acted like the dragon warrior."

"Not even the strongest dragon warrior can survive a blow from Tigress," Mantis chuckled but was immediately stopped as Viper slapped the back of his tiny head with her tail. "What? I didn't mean it as an insult. I wouldn't face her right now in a million years."

"No, Mantis, that's exactly what I have to do," Po said suddenly, his head springing up and his eyes wide with a glimmer of some sort of enlightenment. "I'm the dragon warrior. It was my mistake; not hers. I need to tell her that." Po left his seat and headed out into the hall.

The others shared nervous glances and decided to scatter to some place other than their living quarters. Po heard them scatter behind him and suddenly lost a lot of the nerve he had just had. He gulped as he looked at the screen that now separated him from Tigress' room. He breathed deeply and softly knocked on the door. As he suspected, there was no answer on the other side. He sighed, "Tigress, I know you know it's me. Can't we just forget what happened? We were both still angry from this morning. And what you said to me was probably true. I should step up more. Tigress?"

Po felt an odd sensation. He closed his eyes and flexed his ears for a few moments. Suddenly he realized what was wrong. He quickly opened the door just a little and looked into the room. Tigress was gone.


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